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Being at the forefront of the move to 5G connectivity, Verizon is often referred to as one of the best carriers in the U.S. But how does the carrier compare to competitors like AT&T, T-Mobile, and newcomer Google Fi when traveling abroad?
That’s a good question, and it’s an important one to ask if you find yourself out of the country often. So in this article, we’re going to dive deep and take a look at how Verizon’s U.S. phone plans work abroad. We’ll start out by looking at the company’s international plans and their respective pricing. Then, we’ll look at the supported countries and compare the pros and cons of using Verizon abroad.
Spoiler alert: like AT&T, the international options are pretty limited on Verizon. You’ll want to study this article if you’re a current Verizon customer who’s about to travel abroad, or if you’re a traveler that’s considering a switch to Verizon.
As teased in the intro, Verizon has a limited (and expensive) set of international plans. There are 3 different plans available, ranging from a monthly international data allowance to a plan that lets you use your U.S. data plan while traveling abroad.
Here’s a look at all of the available options:
All Verizon customers are automatically enrolled in pay as you go international data, texting, and calling. If you don’t enroll in another plan on this list and take your phone out of airplane mode when abroad, you’ll automatically be charged at the following rates:
There’s no doubt that these prices are absolutely astronomical, hence why we don’t recommend relying on pay as you go international data — it can get very expensive very quickly.
For example, sending a 3 MB picture message on Facebook Messenger would cost a whopping $6.15! And since modern smartphones use data in the background to fetch email, notifications, and more, you may end up being charged just for taking your phone out of airplane mode.
Hot Tip: Thankfully, you can call Verizon to have pay as you go international data disabled on your account. We highly recommend doing this so that you can protect yourself from an astronomical bill on your next trip.
Verizon’s TravelPass plan is nearly identical to AT&T’s International Day Pass plan. This plan lets you use your U.S. data, talk, and text plan abroad for a daily fee.
This plan costs $10 per day per line, and — once enrolled — you’ll only be charged for the days you actually use your phone abroad. This means you can set the plan and forget it. Then, instead of worrying about pay as you go data, you’ll be charged a flat-rate fee for your international phone usage.
Note that you’re billed in 24-hour increments, so if you fly to Brazil and connect to data at 5 p.m. on a Monday, your single $10 fee will be valid until 5 p.m. on Tuesday. You’ll be billed for another 24-hour increment if you continue using your phone after this initial period.
Further, this plan still pulls from your U.S. data, text, and calling allowance, so make sure to keep an eye on how much you use your phone. Otherwise, you might come back home with overage fees.
You can use this plan in any of Verizon’s 185+ supported countries and if needed, you can roam in multiple countries on the same day without paying extra. Don’t worry — we’ll discuss supported countries later in the article.
Finally, you can enroll in a Verizon Monthly Travel Plan. This gives you a set amount of data, calls, and texts to use when you travel abroad. However, the amount of data, calls, and texts included with each plan is limited at best.
Here’s a look at what’s included with Verizon’s 2 Monthly Travel Plans:
